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That China has finally started playing what they call ‘shen shi yun dong’, ‘the noble game’, is a significant step forward for cricket. In the words of former ICC President, Ehsan Mani, “Cricket cannot call itself a global game when one-fifth of the world’s population is not aware of it.” They are aware of it now. Media coverage of China’s emergence has rivaled that of Afghanistan’s; with the interest however, has come a lack of understanding of just how large the challenge is to introduce cricket into China. “Developing cricket in China is a twenty-year project,” said ICC Global Development Manager Matthew Kennedy in 2006. It still holds true. Introducing cricket into China is a threefold testing-ground: i) for the Asian Cricket Council Development Program, ii) the Chinese state sporting machine and iii) the appeal of the game of cricket itself. China’s coach Rashid Khan, seconded by the Pakistan Cricket Board since 2006, said in 2008, “Development is new, coaching systems are new and China is new to cricket so it is not easy. It is like me learning Chinese by reading a dictionary and watching Chinese movies. To those who want quick results I say it is not possible, to those who want good results I say it is possible. But only if good things are done every step of the way.” Women’s coach Mamatha Maben, seconded by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, in 2009 said “in another three or four years I definitely see them being good enough to beat India.” Since the ACC formally introduced cricket to mainland China in 2005, much progress has been made. Coaches, umpires and, most importantly, player numbers in schools, have risen dramatically ever since then. The primary target is the creation of a men's and women's team for the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou. As hosts, China is guaranteed entry. There they will take on the Asian Test-playing countries along with other countries in a Twenty20 competition. Should China do well enough in the eyes of the world, in this medal-event, state support of the game will be boosted considerably. In order for China to play to the best of their abilities and meet their undeniable potential in the 2010 Asian Games, a detailed plan has been outlined by the CCA with the help of ACC. The ACC Development Officer Aminul Islam, the national coach for China Rashid Khan and other local coaches, following a wide-ranging search for talent in 2008 have compiled a detailed information base of the players and their standards in batting, bowling and fielding. It is now to be maintained for future planning, development and training purposes. In 2009 Javed Miandad was appointed Ambassador for Cricket to China by the Pakistan Cricket Board and he has worked for long stretches with the players and coaches in China, Malaysia and also in Pakistan. Tours of Bangladesh and India were undertaken in 2009 by the men’s U-19 and women’s teams in order to raise playing standards and in April 2010 the elite men’s players spent three weeks in Karachi and Lahore where national team players worked with them. There is also increasing interaction with Hong Kong. Non-professional sports in China (i.e. not table-tennis, badminton, soccer or basketball) face one major problem: children between the ages of 13 and 18 are compelled by their parents and schools to put their studies ahead of all other interests. “No teenager in China plays sport for fun,” says Dr. Liu Jingmin of Tsinghua University, Beijing who is a Level I coach and umpire and has written a textbook on cricket in Mandarin. Unless there is an exceptional push by their schooling institution, non-income generating sports are not played by China’s youth. The ones who have been representing China in ACC tournaments are coming to terms with international cricket much in the way anyone who is learning Mandarin from scratch would. The Asian Cricket Council and International Cricket Council consider China to be a 'Special Project' and have allocated funds specifically to develop cricket in China. In the words of the ACC Chief Executive Syed Ashraful Huq, "Global revenues for cricket will increase by 30 – 40% once China becomes an established cricketing nation, either as a venue, a participant or a breeding ground for future cricketers in the decades ahead." ACC Development Officer for China Aminul Islam says that “China thinks cricket is the fastest way for them to earn money from sport and this motivates them very much.” The CCA’s motto is ‘ming tien hui gen hao’, ‘a better tomorrow’. They have the desire, they seek the knowledge, they wish to repay investment and in turn make cricket their own. They’re Chinese. It’s possible. |
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CHINESE CRICKET ASSOCIATION 2 Tiyuguan Road Chong Wen District Beijing 100763 China Tel: +86 10 87182911 Fax : + 86 10 6716 1733 Email : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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